Welcome to One-to-One Week 9. This week’s theme is Life Management – Part 5: Study. Let’s do a quick recap of the seven parts of Life Management one more time before we get started with this week’s emphasis on Study: 1) Rest; 2) Prayer; 3) Physical Care; 4) Relationships; 5) Study; 6) Work; and 7) Stewardship/Finances. As I’ve mentioned in the four previous weeks, numbers 1 & 2 are in that specific order because they are the most important of the seven parts of Life Management, and if we don’t start with rest, we won’t be able to do the other six. Numbers 3-5 could be considered in any order, but I put physical care third, because it is so often discussed and so seldom practiced in our culture. Work and stewardship/finances are the last two parts, not because they’re unimportant, but because we often want to jump to work and finances without considering the other vital parts of Life Management.

As we turn this week to Study, I want to say some might think the word “study” or the concept of study isn’t biblical, because the idea of studying, researching, and looking for information is relatively recent. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While the ability to locate information has become increasingly easier with the advent of various technologies, such as the printing press, the copier and in more recent times the Internet, God has always called His people to study. While the theme verses for the week are Joshua 1:6-9, we will be turning to several other passages as well. One thing I want to get out in the open up front when it comes to study: I am not in favor, and much more importantly, it seems God is not in favor, of study simply for the sake of study. I was once asked, “Chris, do you think there’s ever a place for studying simply to gain information? Or do you think there must always be an application for the pursuit of information, knowledge and wisdom to be valid?” I paused a moment before responding, because I had an immediate response that was most assuredly my response, and I wanted to give a reasoned response. After the pause, my reasoned response was, “It is certainly valid to study to gain a base of information from which to apply what we have learned to our lives, but at the end of the day, the goal of learning ought to be to apply what we learn to advance God’s cause and kingdom.” What I mean by that response is in order to do math, we need to acquire a base of information. We need to know what the numbers signify, what it means to add, subtract, multiply and divide. We need to understand what fractions and decimals are in relationship to whole numbers, and so on. But if at the end of the day, we learn all there is to learn about math, but we never use what we’ve learned to calculate how many shingles we need to cover our roof; or how many eggs and how much flour we need if we are doubling a recipe; if there’s never an application to what we’ve learned, then gaining knowledge for knowledge sake is at best superfluous and at worst prideful and arrogant.

Having said that, I love to learn. I love to read, study, acquire knowledge and then use it. Ultimately, I like to use it to help someone come to know Jesus, to grow in his walk with Jesus, or to grow in my own walk with Jesus. Since, I believe only the things of God are eternal, I want to be able to relate what I’m learning to God. That doesn’t mean I never do anything but read the Bible and books relating to matters of faith. It simply means even when I watch a baseball game or watch a science fiction movie I’m always looking for something I can learn and apply to my life as a follower of Jesus as a husband or dad, in my work as a pastor or to life in general as Jesus’ follower. That pursuit isn’t always intentional. Sometimes I find myself watching a scene in a movie, for example, and it hits me, “The hero is acting just like Jesus, or Moses, or Joshua, or some other biblical character. In fact, I love the Star Wars movies precisely because the overarching theme is a battle of good versus evil. While you can’t always tell who is good and who is evil right away, you know in the end good will triumph, because that’s reality, the ultimate reality we find in God’s word.

Let’s move on from matters that may or may not be useful in our pursuit of God to the matter of study, because as we’ll see this week study is an absolutely essential component of a God-honoring, well-managed life. Let’s turn to the theme verses for the week to see what I mean: Joshua 1:6-9 (NLT) 6“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9 (NLT) (Emphasis added.) Joshua had just taken over leadership of the entire Israelite nation from Moses, who had been Israel’s leader throughout her time in the wilderness, a period of forty years. Joshua was now to lead Israel into the “Promised Land,” a task that would require a great deal of courage as we see from the text, along with military skill, faith, and according to verse 8, study. God told Joshua to be courageous several times, and right in the middle of His comments said, “Study this book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.” Why would Joshua need to study the law and meditate on it in order to be courageous, to be a leader, to guide the people into the Promised Land successfully? The short answer is: “God’s will and purpose must be done God’s way, and without study we don’t know God’s way.” As we’ve already established in One-to-One, we are always in a battle between good and evil. Unless we study God’s word, we may not know the difference. For example, in 2015 the United States Supreme Court “redefined” marriage to include two men or two women. It is now legal in every state in the union for two men or two women to “marry.” Is that good, evil or neutral? Every American has an opinion on that matter, but the only thing that matters is what God has said. He established in Genesis 1-2, when the world was perfect, that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman that is intended to be life long. Any other definition of marriage is contrary to God’s purpose and is therefore evil, or if that’s too strong a word for you, it’s sinful at the very least. It doesn’t matter if five Supreme Court justices say it’s legal, or if the majority of Americans think it’s good, as Jesus’ followers we must study God’s word, meditate on it and than be courageous in living out what we find to be true. In addition to being courageous, we must also be loving. Unless we devote ourselves to study, we won’t know the truth, and unless we pray and reflect on what we learn, we won’t be likely to live it out in love.

We will be digging more deeply into the meaning, purpose and application of study in our lives as Jesus’ followers throughout the week, but for today, as we turn to our application of Life Management – Part 5: Study I want to challenge us to invest some time in reflecting on our understanding of what it means to study and meditate on God’s word. Here’s our application project: In your One-to-One notebook or computer file write the words “study” and “meditate.” Then write your definition of those words. After you’ve done that take some time to look in a dictionary or go to Dictionary.com and look up the meaning of the words. How do your definitions compare? When you’ve completed this project, one final application: go back to Joshua 1:6-9, and study it for 5-10 minutes. Reflect on the key words. Ask God to show you one thing you need to do as a result of reading, reflecting on and studying these statements. Then do it.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for calling me to study and meditate on Your word, and for giving me Your word to study and on which to meditate. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may understand and live out Your word in my life daily. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.